Warning: If you’re trying to dodge the headlines until you can get back to your DVR this evening to finish watching the 79th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, stop reading now. For those who somehow didn’t spend the better part of your weekend watching this spectacular race, here’s a quick recap. (When you’ve finished reading, go find a buddy who recorded the race and watch it anyway.)

After last year’s race, when Audi claimed the overall victory finishing one, two, and three over the quicker Peugeot Sport entries—all of which retired due to mechanical failures—2011 was sure to be a dogfight. That it was, but not in the way Audi, or anyone for that matter, had expected. Running its first Le Mans endurance was Audi’s new R18 TDI, equipped with a smaller 3.7-liter diesel V-6, a giant dorsal fin, and a new enclosed cockpit. The latter would become vital for more reasons than just the improved aerodynamics.

Not to be outdone, Peugeot Sport returned with its three LMP1 entries after what it called an “embarrassing” outcome in 2010. The 908 is not an all-new car like the Audi, but it received numerous upgrades including enhanced aerodynamics, improved suspension—which allowed the fitment of wider front tires—and a new, smaller 3.7-liter twin-turbo V-8 diesel. Still, it couldn’t outpace the R18 in qualifying, and the Audi secured the pole position by a mere 0.272 seconds. The 908 was faster in a straight line, the Audi quicker in the corners. With a pace so evenly matched over the 8.5-mile course, strategy could very easily determine the overall winner.

The Rolex clock struck 3:00 p.m. and the race was on. Two R18s led the pack with the 908s and third Audi giving chase. In the early hours of a very long race, preserving the car is essential for victory. But less than an hour into the race, veteran Audi driver Allan McNish attempted to pass a slower Ferrari GT car just after the Dunlop Bridge into the entry of the esses. McNish and the Ferrari collided, sending the R18 spinning across the pea gravel into a barrier. The car was annihilated on impact, bursting into an explosion of carbon fiber. Miraculously, it didn’t flip over the barrier, behind which huddled a crowd of photographers, many of whom were blasted with debris. It was a horrific crash, but when the car was righted, McNish climbed from the still-intact cabin with only a few bumps and bruises. Equally amazing was the report that no photographers or other spectators were injured.

After a long cautionary period while the damaged barrier was repaired, the race resumed. Over the next 11 hours, Le Mans would continue to take its toll on man and machine, with 24 cars retiring from accidents, fires, and mechanical failures, but the worst was yet to come.

At about 10:40 p.m., well into the night, Audi pilot Mike Rockenfeller came upon another slower Ferrari 458 GT car as they entered the Mulsanne kink. Rockenfeller flashed his headlights three separate times to alert the Ferrari that his much faster R18 was approaching, but still the Ferrari turned in on him. Rockenfeller swerved right to avoid contact, sending his Audi into a terrifying slide. He crossed in front of the Ferrari and slammed nose-first into the metal barrier on the left side of the track, where his in-car video footage ended. The force of the impact was so tremendous that pieces of his R18 were scattered across the track and, reportedly, even on the outside of the guard rails. The Audi garage fell silent once again as everyone feared the worst, but after a very long and tense period, reports began to trickle in that, amazingly, Audi’s cockpit was once again intact, and Rockenfeller was alive and uninjured.

It took some two to three hours to repair the damaged barriers as the cars circled under caution. Audi already had endured an extreme rollercoaster of emotion, but the team still had one shot, its sole remaining R18 driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoît Tréluyer. Like a pack of wolves hunting its lone prey, Peugeot homed in on the remaining car, with a three-to-one chance at overall victory.

But immediately after the safety car came in following the extended caution, cars went spinning off the track as though it had turned to ice. Effectively, it had. The night brought very cool track temperatures, and the cars’ slower pace mean their tires weren’t up to optimal temps. Among the many to struggle with traction was one of the 908s, which went for a ride and beached itself in the gravel. Once freed, it was a lap down, leaving just two Peugeots chasing the Audi.

While the excitement in LMP1 eclipsed many of the other classes, there was plenty of great racing action in other classes such as LMP2, GTEPro, and GTEAm, but we could write a novel if we covered it all. Noteworthy drama would unfold for the Corvette Racing team after light returned to the circuit, as its class-leading GTEPro C6.R driven by Jan Magnussen retired from the race after a severe collision with a GTEAm Porsche 911 RSR that sent the C6.R hard into the wall. The Corvette team ultimately would push its other C6.R, in third place at the time of the Magnussen crash, to victory in the GTEPro class.

With everyone fighting off exhaustion in the last few hours, neither Peugeot nor Audi could pull away from the other. All three front-runners were on the same lap, the Audi in front by just a few ticks. The final pit stops were intense, with no room for errors by anyone. In a triumphant win, the sole Audi held off the charging Peugeots, opening up a gap of as much as 17 seconds in the last laps, with Audi and Fässler, Lotterer, and Tréluyer crowned overall victors of the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans. After a long 24 hours, the 908 of Bourdais, Lamy, and Pagenaud was just 13.85 seconds behind. It was a hard-earned victory for Audi Sport, and one they’ll not soon forget. With its tenth overall win at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Audi has surpassed Ferrari with its nine, and now trails only Porsche with its 16 overall victories.